The UK’s largest regional tech festival, Birmingham Tech Week, is returning between October 16-20.
The event will bring over 25 sessions and 150 speakers together, including tech founders, government officials and industry experts.
Over the five days, around 7,500 attendees are set to congregate in venues across the West Midlands, including HSBC’s HQ, The Bond Digbeth, The Exchange, and the ICC.
Highlights of this year’s event will include a leadership summit, Digital Skills Symposium and a black tie dinner and awards.
Tech West Mids (formerly Birmingham Tech), the not-for-profit organisation behind the festival, will work closely with founding patrons HSBC UK, Gowling WLG, and the University of Warwick, to showcase the region’s tech capabilities at what is set to be the biggest event since its inception in 2019.
The West Midlands has nearly 6,000 tech companies employing a diverse workforce of over 38,000 people – contributing to an ecosystem that is now worth over £15bn to the economy.
Birmingham Tech Week will cover a number of topics including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and augmented reality.
Events will include advice on access to funding, global exporting, digital skills, and more.
HSBC UK is a patron of Birmingham Tech Week and CEO Ian Stuart said: “Businesses in Birmingham have a critical role to play in propelling innovation and digital solutions to meet customers’ rapidly evolving needs.
“As the leading bank for companies in the innovation economy HSBC UK is delighted to be supporting Birmingham Tech Week.
“With our financial strength, international network and digital capabilities we’re ideally placed to open up opportunities for tech companies not only in Birmingham, but also across the rest of the UK and all around the world.”
Andy Gregory, CEO of BGF, added: “We’re delighted to be sponsoring Birmingham Tech Week 2023.
“The Midlands is quickly establishing its presence as a global tech hub and BGF is committed to supporting and funding more high-growth tech scaleups across the region.
“Having invested over £600m in the Midlands since 2011, we’re continually impressed by the ambition and tenacity of tech businesses in Birmingham.
“We hope that by supporting initiatives such as Birmingham Tech Week, the region’s entrepreneurs and management teams have even more of the support, connections and knowledge sharing that they need to scale up and compete on a global stage.”
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Since the first Birmingham Tech Week in 2019, the festival has grown 20 per cent year-on-year and has featured talks and input from some of the West Midlands’ best innovators and entrepreneurs.
“This year will welcome speakers from Microsoft, Accenture, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and the Mayor of West Midlands, Andy Street, to name a few.”
Yiannis Maos, MBE (pictured), CEO of TechWM and Birmingham Tech Week, said: “At Tech WM we’re on a mission to connect, amplify, and transform the region’s tech sector, and Birmingham Tech Week works to do exactly that.
“Bringing together some of the best minds in the business, shouting
about and celebrating the work we all do and, in turn, working towards making the West Midlands the global tech hub it has the power to be.
“This year’s event is set to be the biggest yet and I really can’t wait to see the finished product and to see how it is received by the audience.”